CompuServe Messages

Jim: character sets: PageStream does not use the standard Amiga character set because it lacks several important characters. We use our own character set (which doesn't make any difference to the user) which has 255 characters. We did this because PageStream originally began with its own proprietary] outline font technology. So we had our own character set. Then we added Compugraphic and PostScript Type 1 font support directly into the program. CG fonts, while they can have up to 65535 characters, generally have about 255 characters and are fairly easily mapped to the PgS set. Most PS fonts use less than 255 characters and can also be easily mapped to the PS character set. This is all done internally and is transparent to the user. There are some fonts which cannot be used with PageStream at this time. Examples of these are the Expert collections from Adobe, and some foreign language fonts, because they use non-standard encoding vectors and the characters are not mapped to match PgS's character set. We are working on this problem. The reason we require that users provide proof of ownership of another DTP program when powering up to PageStream (in the form of the title page of the manual plus either the program disk or a photocopy of the reg card) is to ensure that only these people take advantage of the deal. We do not want to undercut our valued dealer network by selling direct to users at prices lower than the dealer price. We are simply providing an opportunity for people who have already shelled out big bucks for a dtp to be able to afford more than one dtp tool. Because of this longstanding policy, we have a very loyal dealer network who sell a lot of our programs. While our software is also sold in mail order, we are extremely strong in dealer channels. Michael Soft-Logik Publishing